It
dawned on me that that's the Power of Humor. We funny people have a
gift that we shouldn't save just for the stage. We have the power to
turn any frustrating situation into comedy. After all, isn't that what
stand-up is - complaining in a funny way. I decided to spend the day
practicing my new found philosophy.

I
went to US Bank to get a copy of my equity line agreement, which I was
told would be waiting for me to simply pick it up. But the manager
hadn't a clue where it was and lacked the motivation to find the
documents. My frustration was interrupted by a girl who entered the bank
lobby yelling, "The ATM took my card. I want it back now! My father
knows the president here! I will pull all my money out unless you give
me my card! Now!"

I
turned to the stressed-out manager and said, "You take care of her and
I'll be right back." I came back with cookies and said, "I thought you
might enjoy these cause it looks like a few of your customers forgot to
take their meds."

She laughed.

All of a sudden, my documents that she wasn't able to find 10 minutes ago, magically appeared with a smile.

I felt the power.

That
night I went out to 31 Flavors with my friend. While the young girl was
scooping my ice cream I commented, "Your ice cream scooping technique
is fabulous. It's amazing how strong and skillful you are in creating
such a perfectly round scoop of ice cream."

She laughed, proudly showing off her well developed right bicep.

My scoop of ice cream was 50% larger than my friend's.

Again - the power!

My message this week? Don't be a Drama Queen - be a Comedy Queen. You get more sweet stuff back when you give it out.

20 comments:

Judy this is great stuff-- thank you. We have to be reminded of this sometimes.I just had a breakthrough in getting a book (of cat cartoons) reviewed. I didn't want to bug the reviewer again...so i sent her an email from my cat, demanding that he be written up on the website that features all things cats. (this cat's ego has gotten huge now that he's in a book)anyway, It worked, the reviewer loved it and is going to feature the book on her site.COOL. many thanks again mollyb.

It does work to be funny since my double dd's are no longer Dazzlimg or Delightful more like Droopy and Discusting my humor helped me get out of a speeding ticket I have a very funny licence plate oh gd I hope noone from the DMV reads your blog OYbut he asked me what my licence meant because it says FOLIVEUI told him it's a way of telling everyone during traffic pretty much what I think when they cut me off I told him he laughed Thank Gd and I went home I my merry way without getting a ticket driving home slowly of courseMy license is easier to figure out if I print it like this F OLIVE U

speaking of ice cream...I have a friend who used to work at a small mom-and-pop store that served ice cream. As part of her training, did you know "they" have a technique that gives the "look" of a large, solid, round scoop but the inside is in fact quite hollow (this was over 30 years ago)

Judy, I've been following you for years...I'm a stalker!! Nah, just kidding. The "good" type of follower (l0l). Anyway, your post inspired me to want to share a book I recently read which works for all companies, all walks of life, and especially us comedians. It's called "Start With Why," by Simon Sinek. I could talk about it all day, but it basically says, if you know "why" you do something, why you're there to do something (your passion, your calling, whatever), the "what" and the "how" will follow. It's all about appealing to your audience's limbic brain - the emotional "fight or flight" part. I think sometimes comedians (as well as CEO's, managers and other professionals) think too hard abut what they're doing, what they're saying, and how they come across. Their "why" should come from their inner core - something you more or less talk about in your blog...you know, finding something funny or a premise that you can build on, and then just be your funny self. Thought I would share that with everyone.

Judy- LOVED THIS POST!!! My mother was a queen of "funny complaining". I didn't realize it until i read your post. In fact her method was my inspiration to get into comedy. She once told a secret service agent at the white house that "we were tourists and had come all the way from Calif (like no one in DC is) and her daughter is a political science major (me) and could we just stayed in the white house a little while past our tour (unheard of!) to see the pres? Long story short, we ended up waving at president Bush about 1O mins later as he walked past us to get in the helicopter! And I have a bit that is a gem!

Loved your post as I always do, but this one prompted me to add back...my mother read us the story about the sun and the wind each trying to get the man's coat off, the wind went first and of course the man just held the coat tighter, the rest, the bright, warm sun, you know the rest.I love starting phone conversations about repairs (when I've been on hold listening to (bad) music for minutes and minutes) by saying "first, thank you for helping . . . " Amazing how often then they do!

Judy, Thanks for the reminder about using humor to get through the tough breaks. I love the tag "Comedy Queen" in lieu of Drama Queen. I totally needed that reminder as I am starting a new position that if not what I was seeking, but obligated to receive. I going to tell myself over and over, "Comedy Queen, Comedy Queen" and turn it into something funny and good!

Humour is so powerful....I loved this story and reminded me of how contagious laughter is. I remeber a situation where I had a serious case of the giggles when boarding a bus. The bus driver caught the giggles and was laughing so hard that he told me to go sit down and forget about paying the fare.

Judy,There is no better place to use humor than in the medical workplace. Appropriate humor that is, of course. I always say that "humor is the lubricant that helps get to the hard to reach places of truth." When a patient has to endure something painful, a little positive humor goes a long way in helping get it done with ease and proficiency. Rock on Judy!

Judy,There is no better place to use humor than in the medical workplace. Appropriate humor that is, of course. I always say that "humor is the lubricant that helps get to the hard to reach places of truth." When a patient has to endure something painful, a little positive humor goes a long way in helping get it done with ease and proficiency. Rock on Judy!

Recently used jokes to get my duaghter out of detention that was my fault anyways for bringing her to school late. I initiated a roleplay with the Principal telling stories about how I was late for school everyday. When she played along suggesting I serve the detention, I got out of it with a reminder that a 39 yo man with a beard sitting with the teenagers might get her a few phone calls from parents or Dateline NBC. Then I brought out the excuse of the new baby in the house and nearly performed my whole baby-set for her. Neither my daughter nor me is serving any detention.

Welcome to my blog. I’ve created this to share insights, exercises, tips, and ideas to assist others in having a successful speaking career. I find that my Ah-Ha’s! have lead to “Ha-Ha’s.” This blog takes off where my books, "The Message of You" and “The Comedy Bible” end. I’m hoping that you will find some gems that you can use in your own career, and hopefully others will contribute their ideas and let me know when I’m full of it. Read on.

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